Barbara Bernstein

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is one of the most polluted places on the planet. Its legacy from nearly a half-century of Plutonium production has left a toxic stew of radioactive and chemical waste that will remain hazardous for tens of thousands of years. But while the U... Read more

We need to decarbonize as swiftly as possible and the most direct path is through electrification. We can make most of the electricity we need through proven green technologies like solar, wind and geothermal, yet the fossil fuel industry is hyping hydrogen as its preferred... Read more

  This program originally aired on February 12, 2024   The environment and the climate are having a rough ride at Portland City Council and in the backrooms of the Oregon State Capitol. Less than a day before a hearing on a housing regulatory reform package, Portland City... Read more

  This show originally aired on February 5, 2024 This November Portland voters have the historic opportunity to elect a new city council that actually reflects the diversity of its constituents. In 2022 voters overwhelmingly supported a city charter change that transforms ... Read more

A massive pumped storage development threatens to inundate a sacred area known as “Pushpum” by the Yakama Nation, which means the ‘mother of all roots.’ Excavation and construction of underground infrastructure would obliterate Tribal Cultural Properties and cultural resour... Read more

In 1991 Locus Focus host Barbara Bernstein produced a documentary about women’s land in the 1970s. It includes the voices and stories of many of her friends throughout the West, who homesteaded far out in the countryside, far from the grid, creating a women’s culture that s... Read more

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which oversee most of the nation’s Mature Old Growth forests, continue to defy overwhelming public support for protection, scientific calls for a moratorium on logging, and the presidents’ initial direction to develop conser... Read more

Several years ago NEXT Energy (now NXT) proposed to build a renewable diesel refinery and rail yard at Port Westward, a spectacular point of land protruding into the Columbia River Estuary near the town of Clatskanie. The proposal was enthusiastically supported by the Port ... Read more

  This program originally aired on January 15, 2024 Lawmakers and advocates have called upon Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to launch an investigation into NW Natural for misleading consumers about the health impacts from gas. In their letter to Rosenblum they det... Read more

The environment and the climate are having a rough ride at Portland City Council and in the backrooms of the Oregon State Capitol. Less than a day before a hearing on a housing regulatory reform package, Portland City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, working behind the scenes wi... Read more